Doorman Strike Averted, Christ Be Praised

Oh thank god: late last night, with a strike deadline approaching, representatives of city apartment-building owners and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union reached a deal on a new contract for the city’s doormen, which means that Manhattanites all over Manhattan will be able to continue to schedule daytime Fresh Direct deliveries.

(Under the terms of the new four-year deal, the doormen are locked into a nearly 10 percent pay raise, and no cuts in benefits; in exchange, they’ve promised “to try to help the owners find ways to reduce the cost of providing the workers’ health benefits”. This sounds like a pretty good deal for the SEIU, or else a hilarious caving on the part of the property owners; either way, it underscores the extent to which our society is, indeed, largely dependent upon long underrepresented service-sector professionals. And, you know, it must be really, really nice to have packages mailed to your home address. I wonder which will happen for me first, that or a dishwasher?)